Police say a Utah man tied up two teenagers, stabbed them to death and dumped their bodies in an abandoned Utah mine shaft.

Advertisement

Jail documents released Thursday say 41-year-old Jerrod W. Baum found the two teenagers after they visited his live-in girlfriend at the couple’s home and tied them up in the back of their own Jeep.

According to the Salt Lake Tribune, Baum told his girlfriend it was "too bad" he had to kill the teens. The girlfriend, 34-year-old Morgan Henderson, told officers Baum didn't want her to have any male friends.

“He told her that he had previously instructed her not to have guy friends and that it was too bad because he has never killed an innocent before,” the probable cause statement reads.

Utah County Sheriff’s officials say Baum drove 18-year-old Riley Powell and 17-year-old Brelynne “Breezy” Otteson out to a nearby abandoned mine site near Eureka, about 75 miles south of Salt Lake City, where he stabbed them and dumped their bodies down a mine shaft.

Heartbroken family members talk about Powell and Otteson in the video below

Their bodies were found about 100 feet down the 1,800-foot-deep mine shaft Wednesday, nearly three months after they were reported to have disappeared on their way home. Baum's girlfriend led police to the mine after she was pulled over and arrested for speeding.

The teens' hands were bound behind their backs and both had knife wounds.

Baum is being held on suspicion of aggravated murder and other charges. His attorney did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Henderson told police Baum told her he "took care" of the teens. He reportedly said he "made Riley suffer" but "felt bad" about killing Breezy, so he made it "quick and painless" for her.

Baum and Henderson had previously been interviewed by officers in the teens' disappearance. They gave various stories including that Powell may have got into a fight with another man, or that the teens had “stolen drugs from some Mexicans.”